Feed valve for cookers



, July 15, 1941-. A. R. THOMPSON 2,249,235-

FEED VALVE FOR CO0KERS Filed Nov. '7, 1938 v I I E E 54-- INVENTORQ v Maser 1?. THOMPSON 49 5/ I ATTORNEY.

1,385,594 dated July 2.6, 1921.

-due,to danger of breakage. Y I I It is therefore the primary object of the pres- Patentecl July 15, 1941 Albert R. Thompson, Los Gatos, Calif assignor to Food"'Machinery Corporation, San Jose, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Application Noyember v, 1938, Serial No. 239,233

' ZO-Glaims. (01.126-272) This invention appertains .incgeneralto the canning art, and is more particularly concerned with the provision of an improved feed mechanism for continuous canned goods cookers to better adapt the same forhandling frangible containers such as glass jars or the like.

.Cookers of the type referred toare well known in the art, an illustrativeexample beingdisclosed in my prior U. S. Letters Patent No. In this cooker, the cans are introduced into the cooking chamher by means of a rotary pocketed turret valve to which they are delivered by means of an endless conveyor operable to drop the cans, one at a time, into successive valve pockets as the valve is rotated. This dropping of the cans into the valve pockets is necessarily attended bya certain amount of shock, which although inconsequential when ordinary metal cans are handled, is

undesirable where it is desired to handle glass containers, in which many productsarejcanned,

,Another object is to provide a rotary feeding evice provided with means for minimizing-the shock incident to the delivery of containers thereto.

A further object is to provide a simple and effective mechanism for applying a suitable liquid cushioning mediumto the feed device of a cooker. a z

Other and further objects and advantages'of the present invention, in addition to those specifically enumerated, will best be understood from, the following description taken in connec: tion with the accompanying drawing illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. It is, however, to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the specific construction disclosed herein as many modifications may be made within the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 illustrates a top plan view of a continuous cooking and cooling apparatus embody-. ing the present invention, certain parts being broken away to disclose the interior construction of the cooking chamber.

Fig. 2 shows a vertical sectional viewthrough thecooking chamber and feed mechanism therefor, the view being taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, certain parts being shown in elevation.

Referring now to Fig. 1, 2 indicates a conventional formofcooker of the type referred to above, comprising a cooking chamber 3 consisting of a hollow ;cylindrical shell, the interior wall of which is provided with-a continuous spirally arranged guide .rail ,4 of 'T-like configuration in cross section, which forms a spiral ,or helical pathway 5 for guiding the containers from the inlet to ,the outlet of the cooker. A reel made up of a plurality of spider lwheels iiprovided with L shaped rails "I, is nrounted .upon a rotatable shaft, 8 longitudinally extending through the chamber 3.

A motor 9 operatively connected by gears I0, H, l2, shaft {3 and gears 14 and l5 to shaft 8 is adapted todrive the cooker in a known manner.

The containersare supplied to the cooker by means of an elevating conveyor It and a feed valve mechanismll. The conveyor I6 is made up of a pair of endless'conveyor chains 18 carrying spaced cross rods l9 and travelling around sprockets 20 keyed to a. shaft 2l by which the conveyor 1 is driven in such manner that cans placed betweenthe rods are advanced over a .supporting table 22. Upon reaching the top of the conveyor; the cans are carried around a drum 23 into a curved chute 24, and upon reaching the bottom of the chute, are dropped into one of the can compartments or-pockets 25 of a rotary turret valve 26 supported by a shaft -21! operated by =gears 2 8 and 26 and rotating 35..

within a housing 30, comprising inlet andoutlet ports 3|. and -32,;respectively, and secured to the cooking chamber 3 adjacent an inlet .opening 33 therein. The shaft 21 is further provided with a gear 34 cooperating with a pinion 35 secured to shaft 2! for operating the conveyor 16 in timed relation with respect to thefeed turret 2.6.

The'ro-tary feed valve or turret 26 is arranged within the housing 30 with its ends in airland 1 water tight contact .with'the side walls ofthe valve housing :while; transversely extending seal- L-shapedraiIs 1 and -will be partially-received within the spiral .pathwayi. {since the spider wheels 6 and rails I are constantly revolving, it is manifest that the cans will be carried around the inside periphery of the cooking compartment while being advanced therethrough along the continuous helical pathway 5.

Upon reaching the discharge end of the cooking chamber, the cans are transferred therefrom to a cooler 31 by means of a sealed transfer valve generally indicated at 38, and driven by shaft l3. This valve may be of a construction as shown in my Patent No. 1,467,960 of September 11, 1923, and as it forms no part of the present invention it is believed that a detailed description thereof is unnecessary.

The cooler 31 is similar in construction and operation to the cooker 2 in that it comprises a pressure tight shell or casing 39, a spiral guide, and longitudinal rails attached tospider wheels, not shown, rotatably supported by a shaft 45 operated by the motor 9, by means of the gears l and H.

The cans are fed through the cooler in the same manner as through the cooker and are finally discharged through-a valve 4| and conducted to a conveyor 42. 7

Suitable means 43 are provided for injecting steam under pressure into the cooking chamber 3 as'well as means and 45' for 's'upplying air pressure to the cooking and cooling chambers respectively. It will be-understood'that a bodyof ,a

providing a recess forcollecting condensation.

and foreign matter which may fall into the trough through openings 49 between the convolu'tions of the rail 4. A pipe 50 having a steam in the valve pockets or introduced into the same and will further permit excess water to drain out, should too much be injected into a particular pocket as it is opposite the discharge end of the conduit 52.

The conduit 52 may of course be connected with any source of liquid supply for injecting .liquid in the valve pockets in the manner referred to above. The cushioning liquid, which is ultimately discharged with the containers into the cooking chamber during the rotation of the feed valve 26, is, however, preferably preheated to minimize steam condensation within the cooktrap 5| therein serves to conduct excess liquid y from the cooker.

All of the foregoing is conventional construction well known in the art and further details with which the present invention is not concerned may be had by reference to the prior a tion comprehends the provision of a liquid cush ion within the pockets 25 adjacent the discharge end of the conveyor Hi to cushion the gravitative fall of the containers from the conveyor into the pockets of the rotary feed valve 26.

To this end, a conduit 52 attached to the valve casing and communicating with the interior of the same is provided for admitting a supply of water to the valve pockets 25 as they approach the lower end of the chute 24 during rotation of the rotary feed valve. For this purpose, the con-' duit 52 is in communication with the feed valve through the casing 30 at a point just below the end of the conveyor chute 24, so that'liquid may trough 48 of the cooler 31.

er and to preheat the containers before they enter the same.

To accomplish the above in a simple and effective manner, the conduit 52 is provided with branches 54 and 55. The branch pipe 54 leads from and is in open communication with the trough46 of the cooker 2, while the branch pipe 55 is in communication with the corresponding Interposed between the conduit 52 and the branch pipes'54 and 55 are control valves 56 and 51 respectively.

It will, therefore, be seen that hot water from the cooker 2 may be admitted through pipe 54, valve 56 and conduit 52 into the valve pockets 25 by utilizing the pressure within the cooker to force liquid therefrom into the valve pockets 25,

while the flow of liquid may be regulated by -mam'pulation of the control valve 56.

ing the control valve 5'! to any desired degree,. cool water may be admitted from the cooler 31 into conduit 52 and mixed with the hot water 1 supplied thereto to maintain the water injected into the feed valve at a proper temperature, which, of course, may be varied in accordance with the requirements of practice by proper manipulation of the valve 56 and 51.

No pumping or other pressure providing equipment is necessary for elevating and injecting the cushioning liquid into the feed valve since both ofthe compartments of the cooker 2 and cooler 31 are constantly maintained under a substantial pressure. This pressure will always be sufficient to force thenecessary water through the pipes 54, 55 and 52 into the valve compartments be discharged from the pipe 52 into each pocket 25 as the particular pocket approaches the end '7 of the chute to receive a container. A port or opening 53 in the casing 30 adjacent the conduit 52 permits the escape of air or steam displaced by the liquid from the pockets25. This port will further allow the'escap'e of any steam produced" In operation, the feed valve 25 rotates in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2, and each pocket 25 is partially filled with hot or warm water as it registers with the discharge end of pipe 52. It then carries this water upwardly as it comes into appropriate alignment with the lower end of chute 24, whereupon one of the containers 58 drops into the water containing pocket and is thereby effectively cushioned against any damaging shock. The container is then carried on around by rotation of the feed valve until the particular pocket 25 registers with the opening 32 where the valve communicates with-- the interior of the cooking chamber. The cushioning liquid will now be discharged into the cooking chamber while the container will slide out'of the valve pocket and be received by one of the longitudinally extending angle rails I and advariced through the cooking chamber in the manner as previously described.

From the above it will be seen that by filling the valve pockets only partially with liquid the free gravitative fall of the container is not impeded sufficiently to interfere with the rapid and complete admission of the cans into the pockets, and jamming of the cans between the feed valve 26 and the valve casing 30 is therefore prevented.

While in the drawing, by way of example, the

'feed mechanism of the present invention has been shown as adapted for cooperation with a continuous pressure cooker, it will be apparent that the same may equally well be utilized in connection with other types of continuous cook- I claim:

1. In combination with a cooking chamber adapted to contain a body of liquid in its lower portion, and provided with means for maintaining the interior of said cooking chamber at an elevated temperature and pressure, said chamher having an inlet opening above the level of liquid therein: a valve associated with said inlet opening for feeding containers into said chamber, said valve comprising a valve easing having rotary pocketed feed valve member therein; means for supplying liquid to the pockets of said valve member comprising a conduit leading from said chamber below the level of the liquid therein and communicating with said valve casing for conducting liquid from said chamber to the pockets of said valve member to provide a hydraulic cushion in said pockets, and means for regulating the quantityof liquid so supplied to said pockets.

2. In combination with a cooking chamber adapted to contain a body of liquid in its lower portion and provided with means for maintaining the interior of said cooking chamber'at an elevated temperature and pressure, said chamber having an inlet opening above the level of the liquid therein: a valve associated with said inlet opening for'feeding containers into said chamber, said valve comprising a valve casing having a rotary pocketed feed valve member therein; means for supplying liquid to the pockets of said valve member comprising a conduit leading from said'chamb'er below the level of'the liquid therein and communicating with said valve casing for 'conducting'liquid from saidchamber to the I ers as will be obvious to those versed-in the art.

pockets of said valve member 'to provide a hy- V 'draulic cushion in said pockets, and means for 4. -In combination with apressure cooking'and cooling apparatus including a cooking chamber containing liquid under pressure, and a cooling chamber containing liquid under pressure: a valve for feeding containers to said cooking chamber including a casing and a rotary pocketed feed valve member within said casing, and means for supplying liquid to the pockets of said feed valve member comprising a pipe communieating with the pockets of said valve member through said casing, said pipe having valved branches communicating with the interiors'of the cooking and cooling chambers for conducting liquid'from either or both of said' chambers to said feed valve to provide a hydraulic cushion in the pockets of said feed valve.

5. In combination with" a pressure cooking and cooling apparatus including a cooking chamber containingheated fiuidunder pressure, and a cooling chamber containing a cooling liquid under pressure: a rotary pocketed feed valve for feeding containers to the cooking chamber,

means for supplying cooling liquid "from said cooling chamber to the pockets of said feed valve, and meansfor introducing heated fluid from said cooking chamberinto said first named means for heating the liquid supplied to said feed valve.

6. A feed valve, comprising a valve casing, a movable valve body therein having pockets arranged to receive articles dropped therein, and means for delivering liquid to said pockets to 'par'tially fill thesame to form a body of liquid therein for cushioning the shock to articles dropped into saidpockets. 1

7; A'feed valve, comprising a valve casing, a movable valve body therein having pockets arranged to receive articles dropped therein, means for delivering liquid to said pockets, and means forcontrolling the admission of the liquid into said pockets to partially fill the same to form a body of liquid therein for cushioning the shock to articles dropped into said pockets.

A feed valve comprising a valve casing, 'a rotary valve body within said casing and provided with article receiving pockets, said casing being provided with :an inlet port through which articles may-be deposited into said pockets and an outlet port for the discharge of the articles from said pockets, said article receiving pockets being registrable with said ports and open to the atmosphere'upon registry with the inlet port, and means for supplying liquid to said pockets 'for partially filling the same to form'a body of liquid in each pocket as it approaches said inlet-port to cushion the shock to articles deposited therein.

9. A' feed valve comprising a valve casing, a

movable valve body positioned within said casing andprovided with article receiving pockets,

said casing being'provided with an inlet port through which articles may be deposited into said pockets andan outlet port for the discharge of the articles from :said pockets, said article receiving pockets being r'egistrable with said ports for the reception of articles delivered therethrough, and means for delivering liquid toeach pocket after it passes out of registration with the outlet port to provide a bodyof liquid in each pocket to cushion. the shock to articles dropped 'therein.

10. A feed valve comprising a valve casing having an" inlet port and an outlet port, a movable valve body positioned within said casing and provided with article receiving pockets registrabl'e with' said-ports for-the reception of articles delivered thereto, and means for delivering a quantity of liquid 'to .each'pocket for partially filling the same after it passes out of registry with the outlet port to form a body of liquid in each pocket, said body of liquid being sufficient to cushion the shock to articles dropped into said pockets but insufficient to reduce the speed of admission of the articles into said pockets.

11. A feed valve comprising a rotary valve body having article receiving pockets therein, means for rotating said valve body to position said pockets into position to retain liquid and receive articles dropped therein, and meansfor delivering liquid to said pockets while in liquid retaining position for forming a liquid cushion within said pockets for cushioning the shockto articles dropped therein.

12. A feed valve comprising a casing having an inlet port through which articles may be dropped and an outlet port through which articles may be discharged, a pocketed movable part within said casing for receiving the articles dropped through said inlet port to transfer the same from the inlet to the outlet port, and means for delivering liquid to the pocket of the movable part intermediate said outlet and inlet ports to,

form a body of liquid within the pocket to cushion the shock to articles dropped into said pocket.

13. In combination With apparatus for treating containers including a treating chamber: a feed, valve for delivering containers into said chamher, said feed valve comprising a valve casing having an upper inlet port, and an outlet port communicating with said treating chamber, a

movable valve body within said casing and pro-v vided with container receiving pockets registrable with said inlet and outlet ports, and means for delivering liquid to said pockets to provide a body of liquid therein for cushioning the shock to containers dropped into said pockets, said casing and movable valve body being so positioned with respect to the treating chamber that the containers and liquid are 'freely discharged from the pockets into said chamber when said pockets register with the outlet port.

14. In combination with apparatus for treating containers of food including a treating chamber containing a body of liquid therein: a feed valve for delivering containers into said chamber, said feed valve comprising a valve casing having an. inlet port and an outlet port communicating with liquid from the pockets into said chamber."

15. A feed valve comprising a valve casing having an upper inlet port open to the atmosphere and an outlet port, a movable valve body positioned within said casing and provided with article receiving pockets registrable with said ports and open to the atmosphere upon registry with the inlet port, and means for supplying liquid to said pockets for partially filling the same to form a body of liquid in each pocket to cushion the shock to articles deposited therein,

said casing provided with an aperture'for discharging surplus liquid from said pockets to thereby control the amount of liquid supplied to said pockets. 7 V

-16. A feed valve mechanism comprising a valve housing having an upper inlet port and an outlet port, a movable valve body within said housing provided with article receiving pockets registrable with said ports, means for actuating said valve body to move said pockets successively into and out of registration with said ports and means for supplying said pockets with liquid to cushion the shocks to articles deposited into said pockets through said inlet port, said inlet port being liquid free to expose the contents of the -pockets to the atmosphere as the pockets move into registry therewith.

17. A feed valve mechanism comprising a valve housing having an article inlet port through which articles may be dropped and an outlet port for discharging articles, a rotary valve body within said housing provided with article receiving pockets registrable with said ports, and means for supplying liquid to said pockets as the latter pass from said outlet to said inlet port and at a point where said pockets are out of registration with said outlet port for cushioning articles dropped into said pockets through said inlet port.

18. A feed valve mechanism, comprising a valve casing, a rotatable valve member in the casing provided with article receiving pockets,

.said casing being provided with an inlet port through which articles may be dropped into said pockets and an outlet port for the discharge of the articles from said pockets, and means adjacent the inlet port for supplying liquid to each pocket of said valve member as it approaches said inlet port to form' a body of liquid in each pocket for cushioning the shock to articles dropped therein through said inlet port.

19. In a pressure cooking apparatus for canned goods, a cooking chamber containing liquid, means for supplying steam under pressure thereto, a valve for feeding containers to said chamber including a casing having a rotary pocketed feed valve member therein, said casing having an inlet aperture through which cans may be dropped into the pockets of said valve member and an outlet aperture through which the cans are discharged from said pockets into said chamber, means for supplying liquid to said pockets, said means comprising a conduit leading from said cooking chamber and communicating with said casing intermediate said inlet and outlet apertures for conducting liquid from said chamber to the pockets of said valve member as they approach said inlet port to form a body of liquid within each pocket for cushioning the fallof articles dropped therein through said inlet port.

20. An article feeding mechanism comprising a member rotatable about a horizontal axis, said member having article receiving pockets in the periphery thereof for the reception of articles dropped therein, means to introduce liquid into each pocket as it ascends into upright position,

means to permit overflow of a portion of the liquid from each pocket up to a predetermined point in its travel whereby each pocket will contain a predetermined amount of liquid after it passes the point of overflow and arrives at its upright position, said liquid serving to cushion the fall of the article into said pocket and being discharged from said pocket by gravity when said pocket is inverted upon rotation of said member.

' ALBERT R. THOMPSON. 

